I saw a really fun thing on another blog several weeks ago. There  were alternating images loaded below each comment left by the readers. It looked fabulously fun! I have been thinking for a while about how I would like to restyle my comments in a way that is interesting, fun, and sticks with the old-world style of my blog.

I spent a week working out some new knotwork creatures and knotwork patterns to use. A few I scrapped, because while they were very handsome patterns, they wouldn’t work with the blog’s style too well.

In addition to the alternating comments, I also noticed author specific styling on a different blog. This idea is something I chose to use as well. Naturally I worked up a raven knotwork for my own reply comments. Additionally, I chose to choose switch the direction of this one to balance out the page composition.

Now that I have the design and painting done, I can prep them to work on my blogs background and the web. The next step is rewriting the code, but that wont take too long. One thing I noticed, once finished, was that all knotwork animals I chose are animal forms of the celtic goddess Morrigan.

I want to do a couple more simple, non-animal patterns but that can wait a little longer. I still plan to customize the bottom page navigation which I left half worked on, and then setup Pinterest etc.

Hope you are all having a little creative fun this week!

Another character/creature completed. Pretty happy with the results and I think it will be a lot more fun in color. It will be a long while before I paint them. Originally the intent was for just the one, but things develop an identity separate from vision once the lines start forming.

In the mean time, I’m designing the intricate triskellion disk that the Satyr and this Feline Fae are sitting upon. I’ve been doing a lot of celtic knotwork lately and will share more soon!

I‘m ramping things up to finish my mini art book, for the 2012 Sketchbook Project. I was all ready to lay out the map insert when I realized that I over measured by an inch on the main page. Given the cats had slept on the template a few nights already and left a love crease in it, I was already prepared to lay it out again. Can’t wait to share that soon!

Today, however, I am developing one of the two characters for a different feature section of the book that are guarding the spheres. One is depicted atlas style, under the weight of the sphere, the second will be perched above a globe on the adjacent page.

I chose a satyr like female creature. The horns are styled after Welsh black ram horns, but inverted. Hopefully I will have time to go back and tweak the contraposta some more. Combining skeletal structures in mythical creatures is challenging in and of itself. Somehow, I always seem to do it with contorted positions that require subtle foreshortening. A little tension in the pose creates interest and suggests a larger story in motion, so I hope.

Sketches:

Naturally  all these things were apparent in the package she sent. I loved her garden and handmade treats, artwork, and the delicious chocolates. The Lavendar Bath Soother  was used while I was recovering from an icky flu, which made it even more of a treat!

This package was from the “Pay It Forward” offering she had shared on her own blog Silver Apples of the Moon.  So in staying true to the spirit of things I decided to do a similar offering the following winter.

The snow is here, the downtown is twinkling with festive lights, and my children have a running lists of holiday treats to bake. It’s officially winter. Winter is cold, can be gloomy and dark, and just begs for sweet surprises.

What I love most about the Pay It Forward concept is that it spreads a little more joy and light into the world. There simply is no better time of year to celebrate the power of kindness and hope. All the various religions out there are celebrating light which perfectly embodies these.

I am sending out to the first person who responds in the comments section an original 5″x5″ Holiday themed painting and some additional handmade goodness, and then to the next two people some prints and handmade goodness as well.

The Paying It Forward rules:

• The first three people who leave a comment on this post shall join this PIF exchange.
• The only thing you have to do in return is to pay it forward on your own website or blog.
• Handmade isn’t always instant gratification; so kindly give up to a year for completion. ( Luckily I already know what I am     going to send so it won’t take me the whole year!)

In addition to Tara L. Chang’s blog you can see more of her wonderful work on her website TLC Illustration.- THANKS AGAIN TARA!

What is most interesting about some of these booths is that they weren’t simply decorated with swags of complimenting fabric and nicely printed banners. Far more interestingly, they were set up with architectural elements lending a full atmosphere to the art and the style of the artist. What this does for the patron of a festival is give them a very thorough visual experience.

I was wondering if this was an up and coming trend for festivals and how it might show in the booths of the artists of the Black Swamp Arts Festival this year. One newcomer artist did very well taking advantage of his space. In this photo, Andrew Van Shyndle, poses briefly with representatives from  Montessori School of Bowling Green. Just to the left side you can see the edge of his booth.

Andrew received one of the two highest awards in the festival,

Dennis Wojtkiewicz said it was reminiscent of the animated film work of Tim Burton. And Van Schyndle’s booth with a towering superstructure made of wood, only enhanced the effect.
“You enter into this world,” Wojtkiewicz said. “The booth supports the work and vice versa… The complete package is an important part of how you respond.”

-from Sentinel-Tribune “Repeat winner, newcomer get top art show prizes” by David Dupont

For artists who make a solid portion of their income from doing art shows and festivals this is an opportunity to not only bring in more sales and be more memorable to the patrons, but also get into more festivals. Part of submitting an application into a festival or art show is your booth image, and that is nothing to take lightly.

My experience, as chair of the Visual Arts Committee for the Black Swamp Arts Festival and president of Bowling Green Arts Council, has given me inside exposure to other sides of the art world. Much of what I have learned over the last few years echoes some points artist Paul Brent covers in the “Brand Yourself for Success”  teleseminar* he did with Art Licensing Guru Tara Reed.

From highly qualified jurors and seasoned, successful festival artists, here are some of the inside tips I have gleaned.

• Be memorable! The appearance of the booth and your personality can have a huge impact on sales.
• Your booth is your portable gallery; it should be clean, accesible, and visually inviting.
• Don’t display your work in a dressed-up garage sale style, if you want top dollar. Top dollar comes from showcasing the artwork as a fine pieces of art.
• Booth images: should be non-seasonal, unless you are applying for a seasonal themed show; should never be digitally rendered; should show your current work and style; and should be well lit to show details of all the work inside it.
• Avoid expanding out of your booth space into fire lanes,  neighboring artists’ space, foot traffic space, or outside the guidelines presented by the festival or show.
• Be ready for all weather–especially high winds. The best tip I received for high winds was from Debra Purdy, who showed off her  tractor weights* and how much less space they took up in her booth.

All links provided as a courtesy reference. The * indicates the link to the product or service is an affiliate link. For more info see FTC Disclosure

Every Autumn I select a new dry texture to challenge me in my painting and art work. Last fall it was this dry crumpled Ginko leaf. For me such exercises serve as creative artistic play. They can be very challenging but supply much opportunity for growth both in the medium and in creative problem solving.

I want loads of intimate detail, but know I also want to avoid photorealism. I absolutely adore the mechanics and devotion to micro-details in the work of some photorealists, whether they work in watercolor or in oil. However, what I aim for is to capture a kind of inner nature of the subject in addition to its physical nature.

Techniques

• Use several layers of veining, because of the leaf’s dry texture, and because the tone and color change often in the ripples of the leaf.
• The color of light shining through the leaf calls for the merging of cold and warm tones in a shadow. Neutral tint is a must here.
• Indigo lends a subtle purple tone to the shadow, which brightens the yellow through the use of chromatic contrasting.
• Use Lamp Black on the edge of the leaf with 000 sable brush to punch it out.

Supplies

• Paper: Strathmore 140lb coldpress
• Paint: Winsor and Newton Artists’ Water Colour: Naples Yellow, Indigo, Neutral Tint, Lamp Black, Chinese White, Burnt Ochre, Cadmium Yellow, Quinacridone Red
• Brushes: Round Sable 000, 00, 1; Round Camel Hair 1 (for lifting, as needed)
• Other: Arabic Gum (liquid), H2 pencil, Q-tips

Photo © Bradley Wright

Winter’s Wake

The howl of a hound
echoes and races up,
like the shadow
of an omen, half revealed
half withheld, shrouded
by the smokey mists gathering.
It’s lingering resonance
discordantly crawls
through nerve,
sense, and breath
unwilling
to be denied.

The evening sky
draped and blurred
concedes.
Masked stars
in chocked susurrant
choruses grow faint
and obscured
until hollowed
into stillness.

Silence presses
unceasing
into the deep hours.
The frailty of form,
punctuated sharply
by the intangible fog,
seems to shiver in and
out of being.

Swollen beams of morning
break and fade.
Leaves in dozens hang
limp on the ginko branches,
dark dull bodies
twisting lifeless;
now cold, impotent
corpses in winter’s wake.

© Brenda D. Baker

My poetry is published only here.I ask that if you choose to share my poetry on the internet you always link back to this page, and only do so for personal use.

Luckily, given the restrictions of the size, I am allowed to rebind the book and at any thickness I desire. So I have two tasks for this month. One, to experiment with adhering leather to masonite and then to experiment with inks and medieval egg tempera on the parchment scraps I’ve ordered.  Historically one artist would not do the binding, calligraphy, and the artwork, but for this project it is best.

I would like to go wild with the creativity and use some old disappearing reappearing inks, as well as glow in the dark inks. So much to play with, but yikes to learn it all for one project by the deadline. I should just consider ordering the book on ink recipes and see what we have time for from there.

I am very nervous at the idea of working on real parchment given the cost of it; but am glad to have the scraps to practice on. Then to hold the theme and still keep some of the costs down I will do some of the work on a faux but well made parchment styled card stock. It is acid free and holds a variety of mediums well.

In the meantime I am still working on my two main projects. I have been very nervous about publishing online after knowing how a few people have had their work pirated. There is always a risk, but I am trying to weigh the pros and cons for a while longer.

]]> http://artandillumination.com/2010/the-sketch-book-project-2011/feed/ 0 http://artandillumination.com/2010/dragonfly-dance/ http://artandillumination.com/2010/dragonfly-dance/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:54:56 +0000 Brenda http://artandillumination.com/?p=359

This dragonfly painting (darner), is from a photo taken in my garden in Florida. The plant it rests on is commonly called horse tail, which is indeed a favorite perch of dragonflies. I took a much needed hiatus this summer and in that time frame made a trip to visit friends and family in Florida. One of my favorite resting places was the faded green bench on the back porch of my best friends home. It faces a view of a lovely garden. To the right of my view lies a trellis covered with twining jasmine- the perch of the dragonfly.

I sat there often watching the dragonfly dance. Off he would circle while doing rounds through the well groomed and loved garden. Back he would come and rest. For whatever reason, it was made clear that my job was to sit and watch. Any time I got up to take pictures he would disappear, maybe he didn’t recognize my face. My friends however had no trouble getting many great close ups of him. This allowed me to do start this painting. Per my own artistic tastes, and the good tastes of KC, I swapped out the trellis for horse tail.

So here I am thinking about perspective, times of work and rest, and how balance feeds the appetite for a creative life. I am calling it the Dragonfly Dance, which I will name this collection I am working on. I love all the ascribed meanings and attributes of dragonflies: dream keeper, stripper of illusion, remover of obstacles in vision and so on.

I have spent the last few months de-cluttering my workspace in every possible way. Largely to take out obstacles for what is usually my most productive time of year. I need a regular “active rest” period. A consistently used time to serve the purpose of reflecting, learning, and circling through the garden of the goals I have set.